Georgia Land Lottery Books

The 1805 Georgia Land Lottery was the first experiment of its kind in the United States. Partly in response to the Yazoo and Pine Barrens Land Frauds of the 1790s, the people of Georgia decided to distribute newly acquired lands using a lottery, thereby minimizing opportunities for corruption. Public funds were used to survey the land into uniform lots, which were then distributed by chance to eligible citizens. The system specifically included those who were typically disadvantaged under the headright land grant system, such as widows and orphans. Land lotteries had been used previously on a limited basis, but the distribution of public lands on a mass scale by lottery is unique to Georgia.

As the first of eight Georgia land lotteries, the 1805 Land Lottery served as the operational model for those to follow and established districts and land lots as the foundational units of Georgia’s survey system (over the township, range, and section). The purpose of these books is to document the record of all participants, fortunate drawers, and grantees who took part in the 1805 Land Lottery process.